


don't know what i did to earn a love like this (but baby, i must be doin' something right)

by littleghost



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: First Kiss, Fluff, High School AU, M/M, mentions of abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-26
Updated: 2017-09-26
Packaged: 2019-01-05 14:51:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12192036
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/littleghost/pseuds/littleghost
Summary: “I went to the desert to listen to country music.” It falls out of him, and he keeps going, voice hushed like there’s more than just him and Lance in this room. “It always reminded me of you and I would go stare at the stars, think of you, and listen to country.”





	don't know what i did to earn a love like this (but baby, i must be doin' something right)

Keith watches the sun rise over the mesa, the bright colors breaking him from his self-induced introspection. He’s been in the desert all night, watching the stars and listening to old country singers on his old, beat-up player. This is his dirty little secret, his midnight jaunts to the Texan desert where no one can bother him, and George Strait croons in his ear all night long.

He doesn’t want anyone to know, not Shiro, or Hunk, or Pidge, and certainly not Lance. His best friend would just make fun of him, the Korean-Texan who dresses like an emo kid listening to country music in the middle of the desert.

Keith would tell Shiro, except that means telling Shiro his little brother sneaks off to the desert almost every night, and he can’t have that happening. Shiro’s usually laidback, until something sets him off, and his little brother’s running off to the desert without letting anyone know most definitely would. And then Keith would be subjected to a lecture about opening up and trusting his friends and—

He sighs, and pauses his music, effectively stopping George Strait mid-sentence as the man sings _Well then don’t be afraid to take me by the hand_. Sometimes music cuts too close to home, and that song does it well. He doesn’t like to be reminded of unrequited crushes on boys with blue eyes even if he didn’t sit next to Keith in third grade.

He changes his playlist as he hops off the truck bed, and angry guitar riffs fill his ears. Jeremy McKinnon says he hates this town, and Keith agrees. Little ol’ Dockings, which doesn’t even have a fucking dock and the lake has dried up years ago, feels too constricting, and Keith knows he can’t breathe, even it has the freshest air of anywhere he’s lived.

Keith keeps that playlist as he drives back to town, cutting off his headlights when he turns on his street. He doesn’t want to wake anyone up by throwing light into their houses, and he certainly doesn’t want to clue Shiro in on his late night activities. The red dust on his boots gets wiped off before he heads inside, he shoves the old blankets back in the truck’s tool box, and he makes sure he didn’t let anything get in the bed of the truck.

Shiro isn’t waiting in the living room when Keith creeps in, pausing for the door to slowly shut without creaking. It means Keith got away with yet another stargazing-slash-pining trip, and he considers himself lucky. He doesn’t know how many more he can have before his brother finally finds out, and then Keith will have nowhere to go to escape the stifling, small town atmosphere.

Except, when Keith swings open the door to his room, he almost screams. Lance is sitting in his bed, dicking around on his phone, looking like he’s right at home. He notices Keith right away, and looks up with a bright smile on his face.

“Keith!” he whispers. “I was wondering when you were going to get back!” He turns his phone off, and the only light in the room is the early morning’s sunlight. The warm lighting accentuates Lance’s brown skin, making him the brightest thing in Keith’s dull room.

“I, uh,” Keith says, not having an excuse. If Shiro were to ask, Keith would say he went over to Lance’s. He didn’t have a contingency plan for if he were to suddenly find Lance in his room.

“Where’d you go?” Lance asks, just like Keith knew he would.

“Out for a drive,” Keith mumbles. He hangs his jacket on the hook on his door, and bends down to untie his shoes. He’s not looking at Lance, and the other boy knows it.

Lance huffs out a sigh. “You’re going to be vague, really? I can annoy the answer out of you,” he threatens.

Keith pulls his boots off and sets them tidy against the wall. He manages to place them directly in a beam of light, and he sees a patch of red dirt he missed on the white leather.

Lance makes a triumphant sound. “The desert!” he exclaims, too loudly for five in the morning.

Keith shushes him harshly, heart hammering in his chest as he listens for the sound of Shiro moving around. When there’s no noise, he relaxes and turns to face Lance. “Yes, I was out stargazing,” he mumbles.

There isn’t anywhere else to sit in his room besides the bed, and Keith’s run out of things to stall with. He sits down on his bed, a good foot away from Lance. It’s too far for Lance, and the boy slumps across the foot-wide gap so his head is in Keith’s lap.

“Why do you always do this?” Keith complains, but begins to play with Lance’s hair.

“Because of that!” Lance says brightly. “Seriously, though, you don’t have to go all the way to the desert for the stars.”

Keith shrugs. “It’s nice out there. Why are you in my room anyways?”

“Dad,” Lance mumbles after a pause, and that’s answer enough.

Lance’s dad works at the local factory, and there’s been a wave of employee cuts, including most of Mr. Alvarez’s friends. His dad also spends too much time with his buddies at the bar, and sometimes comes home drunk and looking for a fight. Lance is the oldest at home, with his mom and three younger siblings behind him.

“Did he hurt you?” Keith asks quietly. He feels horrible now, since he’s been off in the desert listening to country music and feeling sorry for himself while Lance has been waiting for him, probably since midnight.

“No, no, just yelling. Not even about me, just work.” Lance reaches a hand above his head, finding one of Keith’s hands and tangling their fingers together.

Keith can feel his breath catch, knows Lance probably heard the hitch, but he squeezes their fingers together. Even after two years of living here, he still takes any form of affection he can get. It’s freely given in this town, in his family of two and friend group of four, but a lifetime without it has made Keith greedy for anything touch he can get.

“You’re the best,” Lance mumbles after a little bit. They lulled into a silence, Keith still using his free hand to mess with Lance’s hair, and he thought Lance had fallen asleep.

“I know,” Keith says, half-jokingly.

“No, you don’t,” he says. He does a weird maneuver that Keith can’t follow, and Lance ends up sitting right next to him, their hands still linked. Lance makes sure Keith is looking into his eyes when he reiterates, “You’re the best, Keith.”

Keith’s mouth feels dry and his eyes feel wet. He swallows down the lump in his throat, and says, “You, too, Lance.”

For once, Lance doesn’t avert his eyes after being complimented. His are still locked on Keith’s, and he can see every speck of green in those cerulean eyes. It’s Keith who looks away first, looking down at their hands.

He doesn’t say anything as he messes with Lance’s hand, fiddling with his fingers and tracing random shapes on Lance’s palm. The atmosphere in the room feels stifling, and Keith feels like he’s about to bolt to the desert again.

Suddenly, Lance pulls his hand away, and Keith feels cold immediately. He feels cold until Lance plants the hand on the side of Keith’s face, and then he’s leaning in, and then—

It’s everything Keith wanted, all at once. The soft drag of their lips, Lance’s slightly chapped; the way Lance’s fingers curl into the overgrown hair on Keith’s neck; the trembling in Lance’s hand that’s cupping Keith’s cheek.

He pulls back for a second to breathe, and he sees Lance’s eyes are still open, and he throws himself back in the kiss. This one is faster, but still as sweet as the first. It goes on for seconds, minutes, hours, Keith’s perception of time slipping through his head as all he can think about is Lance’s lips, Lance’s hands, Lance’s soft sighs, _LanceLanceLance._

When their lips are kissed swollen, Lance pulls back and rests his forehead against Keith’s. “I’ve wanted to do that for months,” he laughs.

There’s a million things Keith can say in response, but instead he says, “I went to the desert to listen to country music.” It falls out of him, and he keeps going, voice hushed like there’s more than just him and Lance in this room. “It always reminded me of you and I would go stare at the stars, think of you, and listen to country.”

Lance’s mouth fell open, and he has to take a minute to process. Keith is holding his breath, waiting for the verdict. Finally, his face splits in a grin, and Keith has to mirror it.

“Keith Kogane-Shirogane, that is the most romantic thing you will ever say,” he announces.

“I don’t have two last names, you dick,” Keith says, but he’s giggling as Lance plants messy kisses all over his face. He’s making the stupid _mwah_ noise too, but Keith thinks it’s adorable, and that’s how he knows he’s too far gone.

At last, Lance kisses Keith again, and again, in the warm morning light.

**Author's Note:**

> long title but! i had to find a suitable country song title and let me tell you, i do not listen to many country love songs  
> songs:  
> [title](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbQfE2Oi6Wo)  
> [george straight's _check yes or no_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHxS8wlDngI)  
> [keith's ultimate emo angst song: all signs point to lauderdale](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08PszRp2cBg)
> 
> follow me on [tumblr](http://www.lesbianroberts.tumblr.com) where my url is shadowhunters themed but i mainly post voltron


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